Epilogue

It was a chilly Winter day when Moonlight Guardian reached the outer limits of the mystical forest she had called home for her entire life. She had spent the last month traveling back from the Plains tribe on the other side of the Raincaster region. On her own she was able to make great time, clearing around 50 miles a day. She probably could have cleared 100 miles, but felt no reason to push it.

It felt good for her to be back in her element. The plains were so flat and expansive that it made her feel small and insignificant. But the worst part of the whole experience had been the Raincaster region. True to its name, it rained every day. A hot sticky rain that never seemed to dry off your skin. Sadly, most of the journey passed through this area. So despite the nip in the air, she felt at home once again.

She had not found a mate while she was sojourning. It would turn out that she was less open to the prospect than she originally thought. She wasn’t unwilling in finding a mate, but she realized that she had a strong bond with the Two Trees. After only a short while, it became clear that it would take a lot for her to part with this connection. She supposed she would just have to wait for a sojourner to come along. Never before had she tried to pursue a sojourner, but she felt that she was now ready to start pursuing those opportunities.

If the Plains tribe was not suited to Moonlight Guardian, they were completely suited to Dawn. Despite being a bit of a busybody, she was actually very outgoing and friendly. She had been shy when they first arrived, but they quickly took to her and were more than happy to accept her as an apprentice Priestess.

This tribe actually had three full-blown Priests, which Moonlight Guardian had found amazing. She wondered what made this such a popular role. Dawn assured her it was the dancing. Seeing them engage in their ritual dance and how exhilarated they were, Moonlight Guardian was inclined to agree.

When Moonlight Guardian had ended her sojourn, Dawn was completely integrated into her new tribe. She was sad she wouldn't be able to see her old friends from the Two Trees, but she had no regrets. With her booming popularity, Moonlight Guardian was sure that she would find a mate before long.

As for herself, she had not let the time go to waste. She worked with the local Guardians of the Plains tribe and saw some noteworthy combat. The Grelmhiem would occasionally make forays into their region and they had to be dealt with. As such, there was a healthy population of Guardians, and Moonlight Guardian got some good experience in working as a team. She would have to include what she had learned into her training with Indigo.

But what she was most proud of though was what she had been working on for the last year. She smiled to herself with glee, as she clapped her hands together, much in the same way Indigo had done when he first demonstrated it to her. Parting her hands, the wraith blade formed between them. Moonlight Guardian would do this from time to time to admire the sword. It did have an eerie beauty to it. Ever since she had first manifested it, she had been looking forward to showing Indigo. She was a little embarrassed by just how much she wanted him to see, but she knew Indigo would be excited too.

She gave it a few swings as she continued to march towards the village. It wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be and could see why Indigo was reluctant to train with it. Now that she could use it, she too would only use the wraith blade in training. And she was certain her performance would suffer greatly. She chuckled to herself, sure that Indigo was going to start having his first successful hits. Before this might have damaged her ego, and in truth, she suspected it still would, but this was fine. After all, she had realized she too still had some growing up to do.

She let the blade fall away and took another deep breath of the fresh Winter air. But it caught in her throat. There was something else mixed in with the air. It smelled like... stale smoke? There was nothing around that would indicate there had been a fire, so she floated above the tree line to see if she could find the source. The most prominent feature above the tree line was the Two Trees, even at such a distance they easily cleared all the rest. And it was here that Moonlight Guardian saw a faint smoke emanating from her home. It was strange, she couldn't imagine what it would be. Whatever it was though, it gave her a knot in the pit of her stomach.

The mystical forest was a large expanse, an area of about 40 miles in diameter, with the Two Trees dead center. Moonlight Guardian quickened her pace. It had been late morning when she entered the forest and she planned on arriving back around evening. The plan was to enjoy the last leg of the journey. But now, that itinerary was scrapped. She didn't charge full throttle, she wanted to maintain her calm, but she adopted her patrolling pace, which would put her back in the village in less than 2 hours if we were to use the standard Earth hour.

"It's too late," A familiar character said. Moonlight Guardian stopped abruptly. The thoughts of the Forest Guardian were not something she had expected.

"What do you mean?" She asked as the knot in her stomach climbed into her throat and threatened to strangle her.

"The human warriors have already left." Moonlight Guardian didn't know how to respond. That statement said so much, yet revealed so little. She didn't know what to even ask. "The damage is done."

"WHAT HAPPENED!?!?" She couldn't remember the last time she had so completely lost her cool. She needed answers and she needed them now!

"You will see soon enough." She heard the faint rustle of leaves and knew that he had departed. Never before had she felt resentment for the Forest Guardian, but today, he had earned it.

If she wasn't running full till before, she was now. With the aid of fox magic, she could move faster than any creature utilizing only conventional means; she arrived at the base of the North tree in 20 minutes.

When she arrived, she hesitated to ascend to the first platform; her stomach was turning itself inside out—she was grateful she hadn't eaten anything that morning. However, she didn't need to make the climb to see that a horrible event had taken place here. The platforms were partially destroyed—mostly by fire. The bridges were still in tack though; she thought that strange.

It was while she was making these observations that she caught sight of a crow landing not far away from where she was standing. It was picking at a snowless patch in the ground, only it wasn't a patch, it was a person. The crow flew off as she rushed to her fallen tribesman. The birds had done a number on him and that didn't include the slash across the chest, but the cold had otherwise preserved him. It was one of the Harvesters.

Moonlight Guardian's heart rate soared. She needed to get up there, there might be survivors. She didn't use the stairs and instead jumped onto the first platform, and what she saw made her start dry heaving. Moonlight Guardian thought that she had a strong stomach, but she could see now, that was just a delusion. During her time as a Guardian, she had experienced some serious fighting, but never had she been witness to anything like this. The dead were scattered all around. Some were just dead, others had suffered clear acts of desecration: some had been stripped of clothing, others had one or both of their ears cut off—tail too, and almost all of the dead had been stripped of their masks.

She might have broken down right then and there, if not for a slim hope that there might be some survivors. Looking around, some of the dens were still smoldering. It couldn't have been more than a day, two tops since they had been here. She cursed herself for taking such a leisurely return trip. If only she had been here...

The area was devoid of life. Before this area would have been full of hustle and bustle, but it was dead now. Still, she shouted out for anyone who might still be alive, but no one came calling back. At some point she began collecting the bodies of her brethren and lining them up on the second platform of the South tree—there were already a lot of bodies here, and it seemed to make the most sense. As she collected them, she kept a mental checklist of all she found. Lilac Governess... Dry-Wood... Treetop Carver... Stone Hunter... Hailstone Priest... She was hopeful when she found that many were missing until she remembered that she had found a Harvester on the forest floor. After she gathered those as well, she was more crestfallen than ever.

230 bodies had been recovered, but there were 239 tribesmen by her last count—not including her—meaning there were survivors... Or people she was unable to recover. She was going to believe the former, for her own sanity. Among the "survivors" were River Hunter, Breeze, Mesa, Morning-Sun Hunter, several of the children—this included Dusk, and... Indigo!

Moonlight Guardian couldn't help but find great relief in finding him missing from the dead. Every life was precious, but Indigo's life had become particularly precious to her. He was the younger brother she never had. Tears were forming in her eyes when a glint of sunlight reflected off of something in the nearby rubble, a piercing crimson. As she took note, the palms and soles of her feet began to sweat, and her respiration quickened.

Moving aside the rubble, she found the source, a broken mask, Indigo's mask. Logic left her and she began digging for the other half. She was convinced that if she could find the other half then Indigo would be okay, and after several moments of digging, she saw the upper right portion of the mask. Putting the two pieces together, she found that they fit together perfectly, the brilliant yellow with the streak of red that had caught the sun. This brought a smile to her face. But when she held up the mask, it fell apart and landed face down, revealing a smattering of blood across it.

Moonlight Guardian dropped to her knees. "Indigo... NOOOO!!!"

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The Everglow Forest, as it is called in common parlance, is an area approximately 40 miles in diameter with two massive trees at its epicenter. The forest is known for its relative serenity, where even the more violent creatures tend to respect the peace. But on one quiet Winter night in the year 101,254 of our Lunar Lady, several surveying parties on the outer reaches reported hearing the same eerie sound from deep within the Everglow Forest, a forlorn and haunting howl.

End of book one

Story continues in book two: My Time at Reastera Chateau

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